OBITUARY

Nelson Evening Mail, Volume LXI, 7 September 1926, Page 7

OBITUARY

MU )■;. 11. FENNY Of BLENHEIM ItclciTing to the death ol Alt' E. 11. j Fenny, the Express n ferivd to him as oi.r of BFnhe.m's be.-i! known and most |-,g ; dy c:di'cn.. d public men. 'The Mr Fenny whs both in Sonekpori, L.tmve-Jnw 1 , to id:), or.l v. on eduri'-ed i', tne Fi'.uMivir n Loot there H w.u> .iff-: v o -is Lain -d lx business tm.ler j 1.: - father, a v. lion -ale paper mei | ciiai.i. Mi Penny visile,l New Zealand | nil ;i hcsiih-iiVniititm trip in 1833. and I he returned in the following year Intake tt)o his i csidcnce in the Dominion, tie set I led it: Blenheim in 1885. and for seteral years was associated with the .Marlborough Fit rulers' Co-operative Stores. In 1893 he purchased his wellknown station, ry and book-selling bit-! siness. Mr Fenny's sage advice, good [ counsel, and splendid upright character j soon gained him a warm place ill the I appreciation of the townspeople, and in | 1899 he look a seat on the Borough j Council, holding oilier continuously for; many years. lie became .Mayor in j 1995. lie was also for a long period a i member of the Wairatt Hospital liuard , and had always been prominently asso-j rutted with the Methodist Church, lie i was up to the time of his death it local preacher, and conducted a service at Springlands on .Sunday week last. lie! was for many years a teacher in the j Sunday School, of which lie was Super- j iuteudciiL for several years, and he I was secretary of Hie Wesley Church j Trust for a period of about 25 years, j In 1904 he was one of the Newt Zealand delegates at the General Conference of I the Methodist Church of Australasia at .Melbourne, and he had the honour of being one of the delegates at tin- historic conference held in Adelaide in 1910, at which separation between the Australian and New Zealand sections of the church was agreed to, in addition Mr Fenny was in 1920 Viee-President-of the N.X. Methodist Conference, the highest honour to which a layman may attain in the church. Splendid as is his record of church work, it is. if anything, exceeded by his remarkable devotion to the cause of education, in which lie. was for many years the guiding light in .Marlborough. He had an almost unequalled record as a member of a school committee, having been a member of the Blenheim Committee for nearly 30 years, and chairman since 1901. lie was also a member of the Wellington Education Board at the time <.f his death, ami chairman of the .Marlborough College Board of Governors. He Idled this last office with peculiar distinction, and it might he. said that the welfare and advancement of iho Coliege lay very close to his heart. His death, almost on the eve of the big developments In he made at- t.hs College this year is particularly unfortunate ; and will remove a figure whose splendid work for the inatitution will never he forgotten. On top of his other activities, Mr Fenny found time in 1919 to contest- the. Wutrail seat in the House of Hepresenlntives, but he was unsuccessful. 11 is name had, however, been freely mentioned as that of a deserving nominee for appointment to the Upper House, and such a nomination would have been widely popular! | The. late Mr Fenny married in 1890 Miss Bhimires. of Ficloii. and lie had brought up a large family. Mr York Fenny, one of his sons, is stationed on Ii.M.S. Dunedin, Air Harry Fenny resides in Blenheim: Airs AleLenii, a daughter, is at present at Ward, and Miss Kathleen Fenny, lives with her mother. Miss Phyllis Penny is in Auckland. In addition, two sons fell in tile war.